Mark Thompsonhttp://www.adweek.com/taxonomy/term/14656/all
enNative Seen as 'Salvation' for Ad Woes http://www.adweek.com/news/press/native-seen-salvation-advertising-woes-152689
Lucia Moses<p>
Native advertising may be old advertorials in new cloth, but formats like it are necessary to publishers&rsquo; survival, media CEOs said at an Advertising Week panel today.</p>
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&ldquo;The salvation of advertising in digital is innovation,&rdquo; said <a href="/node/152118">Jon Steinberg</a>, president and COO of BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, of course, is notorious for shunning the banner ad altogether and helping kick off the rush toward, and controversy over, native ads that look like editorial content. &ldquo;People say advertorial, some people bristle.&rdquo;</p>
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The New York Times has taken a more cautious stance toward integrating native advertising, but Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson, who joined Steinberg on the panel, sees a perfect opportunity for the publisher to meet advertisers&rsquo; growing demand for storytelling. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re thinking very broadly,&rdquo; he told the room. (At the same time, the Times Co. has been shifting its dependence on advertising to subscriptions as ads have become a less reliable revenue stream.)</p>
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There wasn&rsquo;t much flag-waving for print, even among the print stalwarts on the panel. <a href="/node/151356">New Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp</a> said that Time Inc. is &ldquo;no longer a magazine company.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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&ldquo;The foundation of our organization is the quality content we have,&rdquo; he said.</p>
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Ripp said that Time Inc. has suffered from living in Time Warner&rsquo;s shadow for years. The publishing unit is rich in profits, cash flow, database and audience, though, he said, and the task before him is to invest in creative ideas.</p>
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Ripp didn&rsquo;t rule out buying more print, however, noting also that Time Inc. just bought American Express Publishing&rsquo;s titles. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll invest in digital, other print products.&rdquo;</p>
The PressAdvertising WeekBuzzfeedJoe RippJon SteinbergMark ThompsonLucia MosesThe New York Times Co.Time Inc.NewspaperMagazineTue, 24 Sep 2013 18:44:30 +0000152689 at http://www.adweek.comThe New York Times Names New Ad Chiefhttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/new-york-times-names-new-ad-chief-151168
Lucia Moses<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/new-york-times-building-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
Back in March, The New York Times Co. <a href="http://jimromenesko.com/2013/03/15/new-york-times-unveils-new-company-structure/" target="_blank">announced a new structure</a>, recognizing a need to speed up its operations and boost its digital operations amid a slump for print newspapers. The company created three new groups, for digital products and services, print products and services, and advertising. Today, the Times continued that process, naming <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/more-change-forbes-media-138356" target="_blank">Meredith Levien from Forbes</a> to head up the last one.</p>
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As evp of advertising, a newly created position, Levien will oversee advertising revenue coming from all the Times&rsquo; products and services. She&rsquo;ll be on the executive committee and report directly to Times president and CEO Mark Thompson, starting Aug. 5.</p>
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Thompson cited Levien&rsquo;s success in print, digital and live events, areas all important to the Times. &ldquo;As one of the first newspapers to integrate its print and digital sales operation, The Times has an impressive history of advertising innovation; we&rsquo;ll look to Meredith to help advance us to the next frontier,&rdquo; Thompson said in a statement.</p>
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Levien had been CRO for the past two years. Before joining Forbes in 2010, she held several ad sales positions at the Atlantic Media Co. Forbes moved quickly to fill her position, promoting Mark Howard, formerly the svp of digital advertising strategy.<br />
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Advertising & BrandingThe PressForbesMark ThompsonMeredith LevienOnlineLucia MosesThe New York Times Co.NewspaperMon, 15 Jul 2013 16:32:59 +0000151168 at http://www.adweek.comThe New York Times Planning Lower-Priced Digital Subshttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/new-york-times-planning-lower-priced-digital-subs-148888
Emma Bazilian<p>
In this morning&rsquo;s first quarter <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105317&amp;p=irol-newsArticle&amp;ID=1811146&amp;highlight=" target="_blank">earnings call</a>, which had revenues down 2 percent, The New York Times Co. announced plans for a number of <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105317&amp;p=irol-newsArticle&amp;ID=1811161&amp;highlight=" target="_blank">new initiatives</a> at the flagship paper, including a lower-priced subscription model, international expansion, and increased focus on digital video, all expected to roll out in the last quarter of 2013 through 2014.</p>
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&ldquo;We mean to grow our business by launching new products and services based on the unique strengths of Times journalism and by investing in the rapid expansion of existing operations&mdash;video and live events are examples&mdash;where we&rsquo;re already seeing strong growth,&rdquo; CEO Mark Thompson said on the earnings call.</p>
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Following reports from earlier this year that the newspaper was planning to test a cheaper, &ldquo;entry-level product&rdquo;&mdash;initially thought to be an &ldquo;<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/02/07/coming-soon-a-childrens-edition-of-the-new-york-times/" target="_blank">NYT Junior</a>&rdquo; edition aimed at college students&mdash;the Times confirmed that it would roll out &ldquo;a lower-priced paid product designed to allow access to The Times&rsquo;s most important and interesting stories in a convenient, media-rich package,&rdquo; as well as several other economy options that would provide access to specific newspaper sections. Thompson didn&rsquo;t provide pricing details, but at a conference last week, <a href="http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/-dme13-new-york-times-considering-cheaper-subscription-option/s2/a552699/" target="_blank">Paul Smurl, vp of NYTimes.com paid products, said</a> that a cheaper digital product could start at $10 or less. (The current all-access plan is priced at $35 for four weeks.)</p>
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There will also be an &ldquo;enhanced tier&rdquo; (read: more expensive) option, which would give current all-access subscribers &ldquo;access to Times events and the ability to gift subscriptions and provide full family access, among other incentives&rdquo; for an added fee.</p>
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The Times has already announced plans to rebrand the International Herald Tribune as the International New York Times by the end of the year, as part of an effort to created a unified brand and grow international revenue. Today, the Times also said that it would invest in international marketing and in pricing and payment methods to localize the purchase process.</p>
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Another area of growth will be brand extensions, with a focus on games, e-commerce and live conferences, Thompson said this morning. The Times will also continue to push digital video &ldquo;to satisfy the demands of both users and advertisers.&rdquo; Earlier this week, the newspaper said that it was planning to <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/04/23/new-york-times-video-paywall/ " target="_blank">drop the paywall</a> for all video content on its website in order to boost viewership.</p>
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The growth plans come amid <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/business/media/times-company-reports-a-drop-in-income.html?_r=0" target="_blank">disappointing financial results</a> for the company. First-quarter net income dropped 93 percent year over year to $3.1 million in the face of declining print and digital ad revenue. (The Times&#39; income was boosted by the sale of its shares in Fenway Sports Group during the first quarter of 2012.) Total revenue declined 2 percent to $465.9 million, while print and digital advertising revenues decreased 13.3 percent and 4 percent, respectively. (According to eMarketer, overall U.S. ad spending on newspapers is expected to decline another 4.2 percent in 2013.)</p>
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Circulation revenue was a bright spot, increasing 6.5 percent, which Thompson attributed to strong digital subscription initiatives. The company had about 708,000 paid digital subscribers by the end of the first quarter, an increase of more than 45 percent versus the year-ago period. Operating profit was also up, from $12.6 million in the first quarter of 2012 to $22.9 million in 2013.</p>
The PressInternational Herald TribuneMark ThompsonOnlinePaywallThe New York TimesEmma BazilianNewspaperThu, 25 Apr 2013 15:59:13 +0000148888 at http://www.adweek.com